This just arrived today, turned out to be one of my better GB finds. Lucked out and came across it just minutes after it was posted. Seller didn't know much about it so it was simply listed as a Japanese 6.5 Rifle. Having seen the one MilsurpDan scored last year I couldn't click buy it now fast enough once I saw what it was. Didn't get it as cheap as he did, but at $300 this was a steal.
It's a rare very late WWII "Substitute" Type 35 Rifle, also known as the Type 02/45. When resources were running dry at the end of the war, the Japanese dug out old Type 35 receivers that were made in the 1902-1904 period and threw them into training rifle stocks. They are incredibly crude and a great representation of the desperation they faced as defeat was near.
This one is in outstanding condition and has all the "correct" features found on these: Type 35 receiver without a serial number or dust cover grooves (suggests these could have been prototype or pre-production T35 receivers per Honeycutt's book), one piece training rifle stock, crude training rifle iron hardware to include the rear sight, and as with other known examples one of the action screws is absent because the the parts don't line up correctly and they didn't spend the time to make it fit.
This is a variation to be on the lookout for as they are often mistaken for training rifles or Bubba put-togethers.
It's a rare very late WWII "Substitute" Type 35 Rifle, also known as the Type 02/45. When resources were running dry at the end of the war, the Japanese dug out old Type 35 receivers that were made in the 1902-1904 period and threw them into training rifle stocks. They are incredibly crude and a great representation of the desperation they faced as defeat was near.
This one is in outstanding condition and has all the "correct" features found on these: Type 35 receiver without a serial number or dust cover grooves (suggests these could have been prototype or pre-production T35 receivers per Honeycutt's book), one piece training rifle stock, crude training rifle iron hardware to include the rear sight, and as with other known examples one of the action screws is absent because the the parts don't line up correctly and they didn't spend the time to make it fit.
This is a variation to be on the lookout for as they are often mistaken for training rifles or Bubba put-togethers.
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